Fau Re-examines Scholarship Policy

Race Will No Longer Be Deciding Factor In Determining Eligibility Of Students

November 15, 1996|By ARDEN MOORE Staff Writer

ORLANDO - — For the first time, a white student attending Florida Atlantic University may be eligible to receive a full-tuition Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship previously available only to blacks.

FAU president Anthony Catanese on Thursday confirmed that FAU reached a settlement last week with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights that alters its race-based scholarship policy.

Starting in January, race will be only one factor - not the deciding criteria - in determining who is eligible to receive the King and other scholarships aimed at increasing the number of minority students. A student's economic need and grade-point average will now carry more weight.

FAU's actions reflect a growing trend among Florida's public universities to re-examine and adjust the criteria for race-targeted scholarships to ensure they meet federal guidelines and avoid lawsuit losses. At the same time, Florida is among several Southern states under OCR orders to remedy past discriminations against minority students.

"What we're doing is now focusing on diversity rather than race and as long as we move in that direction in our multi-cultural state, we'll be fine," said State University System Chancellor Charles Reed at Thursday's Board of Regents meeting held at the University of Central Florida campus.

Florida's situation contrasts with California. Voters there earlier this month approved Proposition 209, an anti-affirmative action amendment that stops universities from hiring or awarding scholarships strictly based on race.

"I think Proposition 209 has given new light to groups wanting to challenge these scholarships," Catanese said. "I see us in a new post-affirmative action era in which the goal is to make a student body mirror its regional community."

Florida International's Toni Margulies-Eisner headed a system-wide, race-targeted financial aid task force. She told the Regents on Thursday that the group identified five areas in which the universities could legally offer scholarships based on race. They include proving the action will diversify the student body or correct past discrimination against minorities. They can also award a disproportionate number of scholarships to minorities if they can prove the students are economically disadvantaged.

"In our review, we had to look at every single scholarship based on race, no matter how small or if the money came from a private donor or public funds," said Margulies-Eisner, vice-president of FIU's equal opportunity programs.

Regent Audrea Anderson emphasized that Florida's universities will not back away from their efforts to recruit and graduate more minorities.

"Let me affirm that in Florida, we will continue to offer scholarships using race as a criteria," Anderson said. "We know it is necessary to continue diversifying our enrollment and we need to be leaders in this area."